The passengers from the Russian scientific research vessel Akademik Shokalsky have celebrated New Year in the ice. The ship remains stuck off the coast of Antarctica, with a Chinese rescue vessel also reportedly being in trouble.

The crew and passengers of the Akademik Shokalskiy, which has
been trapped since December 24, about 1,500 nautical miles south
of Tasmania, celebrated the New Year at 11:00 GMT.

But the festivities aboard were most likely marred by the news
that the rescue of the Russian ship’s passenger and crew will
most likely be postponed.

China’s Xue Long (Snow Dragon) icebreaker has barely moved in the
last 24 hours and appears to be stuck in the ice itself, the BBC
reports.

It was initially planned that people from Akademik Shokalsky will
be evacuated by helicopter to the Chinese ship and Australia’s
Aurora Australis vessel.

But now, 52 passengers and four crew members aboard Xue Long are
themselves waiting for favorable flying conditions to be
recovered from the ship.

The Chinese captain said he’s in “holding position,”
with Aurora Australis expected to break through the ice and
assist his vessel.

Scientists on board the ship are continuing their research,
drilling through the ice around the ship to photograph sea life.

As New Year approached, the tourists, scientists and crewmembers
were preparing for a New Year’s party in the ship’s bar.

“It's New Year's Eve tonight, so there are all sorts of
plans," said Chris Turney, leader of the Australasian
Antarctic Expedition (AAE) and a professor of climate change at
the University of New South Wales.

"We are all keeping busy, with twice daily briefings
outlining all the information we have to hand, alongside classes
through the day (knot tying, languages, yoga, photography and
many others) while the science program has continued as best we
can," Turney said in his expedition blog.

"[We're] passing the time reading, preparing for a possible
helicopter evacuation, continuing ocean studies dropping probes
beneath the ice … and working on a new song for New Year's Eve
celebrations which will be a nice dinner and time at the
bar," ship's doctor Andrew Peacock told AFP.

“It’s a nice place to work. If all goes well, we’ll soon
leave this ship with a paper,” said Erik Van Sebille,
oceanographer, on his video diary.

The
Akademik Shokalsky, with 74 passengers on board including
scientists, tourists and crewmembers, left New Zealand on
November 28. It was a privately-funded research expedition to
celebrate the 100th anniversary of an Antarctic journey led by
famous Australian explorer Douglas Mawson. The voyage was to
visit inaccessible Antarctic huts. It was scheduled to return to
New Zealand on January 4.

However, on December 24, the ship got trapped about 100 nautical
miles east of a French Antarctic station, Dumont D'Urville, and
about 1,500 nautical miles south of Australia's island state of
Tasmania.

The ship was surrounded by ice up to nearly 3 meters thick,
Turney said.

After weather conditions failed to clear December 25, the ship
sent a satellite distress signal.